Hinge for toilet seats and covers



Nov. 17, 1936. v. w. CAMPBELL HINGE FOR TOILET S EATS AND COVERS FiledJune 10, 1955 Z9 WILL- 251? g iiwjf LJ/ id z ii ifi INVENTOR,

' ATTORNEY.

1 2/7201; Whirl Z615,

Patented Nov. 17, 1936 UlTED STATES PA'I'ET OFFICE HINGE FOR TOILETSEATS AND COVERS Application June 10, 1935, Serial No. 25,852

Claims.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a hinge for atoilet seat and cover which shall be as inconspicuous as possible. Incarrying out this general object it is one of the specific objects ofthe invention to fasten the hinge members to the rear of the seat andcover respectively without any fastening means whatever on the top,bottom, or sides of the seat or cover to be seen from the front fromwhich direction an observer would ordinarily be looking.

In addition to rendering the hinge elements themselves inconspicuous itis a still further object of the invention to conceal the rear portionof the opening in the toilet bowl which in many prior arrangements canbe seen behind the rear edges of the seat and cover. This object isfurthered by hingedly mounting the seat and cover as far to the rear aspossible. One of the specific means employed for this purpose is the useof a pair of hinge posts each of which has a threaded member extendingdownwardly through one of the usual apertures in thebowl and has abearing arm extending upwardly and rearwardly with the bearingpositioned rearwardly from the aperture.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a hinge whichshall besymmetrical in appearance and the parts of which shall be simple in formand construction. In carrying out this idea of symmetry the height ofthe common pivotal axis of the seat and cover is selected so as to be ata level which is about midway of the level of the seat and the level ofthe cover.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide hinge membersto be secured to the seat and cover respectively Which shall be of thesimplest possible form both for purposes of manufacturing and forappearance. Still more specifically each hinge member is U-shaped andcomprises a middle portion and two end portions all three being of flatstrip, the middle portion being secured to the edge of the seat orcover, as the case may be, and the end portions having apertures thereinfor the reception of a bearing pintle. Such a form lends itself topractical fabrication in either of two ways. In small quantities, forexample, when the total number being manufactured is small, the partsjust described can be readily made as castings. In large quantities,when the total production has reached a large number, a still lessexpensive method of manufacturing such as punching from plates andbending into shape, could be employed.

The construction outlined in discussing the foregoing objects has aspecial application in connection with installations where it hasheretofore still been standard practice to employ a back strip of Woodor similar material to cover the rear portion of the opening in the bowland to attach the seat and cover thereto by means of 5 strap hinges.Without the necessity of redesigning the porcelain bowl or changing thelocation of the aperture therein the hinge of the present inventioneffectually covers such portions of the bowl and moreover in itselfpresents an unusually attractive appearance.

While the hinge is primarily intended for use with a seat and covertogether it is to be understood that the invention may also be employedwith a seat only except where such use is inconsistent with thelimitations set forth in the claims.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will more readilyappear to those skilled in the art to which it appertains by a consider-2U ation of the following description of one embodiment thereof taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a rear Viewof a hinge for a toilet seat and cover embodying the invention and showsa portion of the seat and cover to which the hinge is attached and aportion of the bowl upon which it is mounted;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2Z Of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the hinge element which is secured tothe cover;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the hinge element which is secured tothe seat; and

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the base of one of the hinge postsshowing the adjustable means employed for clamping the posts to thetoilet bowl.

Referring to the drawing more in detail the reference character Itindicates a toilet bowl having a rearwardly extending shelf l2 throughwhich extends a pair of vertical apertures l3. Hinge posts H2 and it arepositioned above the apertures it and are secured to the bowl by meansof threaded members it which extend through the apertures and areengaged below the 5 shelf l2 by nuts ll. The threaded member it may berigidly secured to the base it of the post or formed integrallytherewith or it may be a separate member and adjustable. with respect tothe post, As shown in the drawing this adjust- ,50 ability is providedby means of a slot in the base It, a construction which is more fullydescribed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 21,847filed on May 16, 1935. Washers IQ of rubber or other suitable materialmay be em- .55

ployed under the base I8 and above the nut l1 respectively fordistributing the pressure uniformly against the porcelain. A metalwasher 20 is also usually interposed between the nut I1 and the rubberwasher 19.

The hinge post 15, as may be clearly seen in Fig. 2 has an upwardly andrearwardly extend ing arm 2| which is provided at its upper portion witha bearing socket 22. The other hinge post [4 also has an upwardlyextending arm which is likewise positioned to the rear of the threadedmember l6 and its aperture l3 and has a bearing socket 22 in the upperportion thereof. A bearing pintle 23 is pivotally supported at its endsin the sockets 22 of the two hinge posts I4 and I5.

A toilet seat is shown at 24 which has a rear edge 25 which issubstantially a flat vertical surface. A U-shaped hinge member orelement 26 is used for connecting the seat to the pintle and comprisesthree portions. The middle portion 21 is in the form of a flat strip ofrectangular crosssection adapted to be secured to the flat rear edge 25of the toilet seat. One suitable way of securing the portion 2! to theseat is by means of screws 28 which pass through screw holes 29,provided in the portion 21, and into the wood of the seat 24. Extendingat right angles from the strip 21 at either end thereof are ears 30 and3! which are also flat strips curving rearwardly and upwardly withhearing apertures 32 in the ends thereof through which the pintle 23extends and by which the hinge element 26 and seat 24 are pivotallysupported. It is to be noted that the distance between the outer facesof the two cars 30 and 3| is slightly less than the distance between theinner faces of the two hinge posts l4 and I so that the hinge member isdefinitely positioned longitudinally of the pintle with only just theslight clearance necessary to minimize friction.

A seat cover is shown at 33 which has a substantially flat vertical rearedge 34 positioned above the rear edge 25 of the seat 24. A U- shapedhinge member or element 35 is provided for connecting the cover with thepintle 23. The middle portion 36 of the member 35 is in the form of aflat strip of rectangular cross-section and may be secured to the rearedge 34 of the cover 33 by any suitable means such as screws 3'! whichpass through screw holes 38 in the portion 36 into the wood of thecover. At each end of the portion 36 there is an ear, 39 and 40respectively, having bearing apertures 41 therein. These ears arepreferably integral with the portion 36 and extend rearwardly anddownwardly toward the pintle 23 which is positioned in the apertures 4|and pivotally supports the hinge element 35 and attached seat cover 33.The distance between the outside faces of the two ears 39 and 40 isslightly less than the distance between the inside faces of the two ears30 and 3| so that the longitudinal movement of the member 35 on thepintle 23 is only sufiicient to minimize friction.

It is to be noted that the outer contours of the ears or curved arms 30and 3| are substantially that of a quarter circle and they merge withthe outer contours of the curved arms 39 and 40 so as to give together asemicircular appearance.-

The general form of the two hinge elements 26 and 35 are such that theymay be readily fabricated by casting, if the total production is notvery great, or they may be formed from sheet stock by punching andbending, if the total production is large. There are marked advantagesin having hinge members of the character described which are simple inform and readily lend themselves, without any change in design, to twodifferent methods of fabrication.

It is also to be noted that the rear edge 25 of the seat 24 ispositioned below the rear edge 34 of the cover 33 and the base l8 of thehinge posts, or rather the threaded members 16 thereof which arepositioned in the apertures l3, are below the two edges. The bringingtoward the rear of the bowl of the seat and cover which is done. by therearwardly positioning of the bearing socket 22 with respect to theapertures I 3 results in a more effective covering up of the unsightlyportions of the rear of the bowl such for example as the rear portion ofthe opening in the bowl.

It is to be understood that the foregoing embodiment of the inventionhas been selected for purposes of illustration only and various changesmay be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined in the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a toilet bowl having a pair of vertical aperturespositioned near the rear thereof, a toilet seat and cover having rearedges positioned in approximately the same vertical plane as saidapertures, hinge posts having members positioned in said apertures forsecuring said posts in place, each post having an upwardly andrearwardly extending arm with a bearing therein whereby said bearingsare positioned rearwardly of said vertical plane, a pintle pivotallysupported in said bearings, and hinge members secured to the rear edgesof said seat and cover and having rearwardly extending portionspivotally supported by said pintle.

2. A hinge for a toilet seat and cover comprising a horizontal bearingpintle, hinge posts having bearing sockets therein for pivotallysupporting said pintle positioned one at each end thereof, the base ofeach of said posts being positioned forwardly of said pintle andconnected with its socket by an arm extending forwardly and downwardlyfrom said socket to said base, a hinge member for said seat extendingfrom said pintle forwardly and downwardly to the rear edge of said seat,and a second hinge member for said cover extending forwardly andupwardly to the rear edge of said cover, the bases of said hinge postsbeing positioned approximately beneath the portions of said memberswhich are secured to the seat and cover respectively.

3. In combination, a toilet bowl having a pair of vertical aperturespositioned near the rear thereof, a. toilet seat having its rear edgepositioned in approximately the same vertical plane as said apertures,hinge posts having members positioned in said apertures for securingsaid posts in place and each post having an upwardly and rearwardlyextending arm, hinge means secured to said rear edge of the seat andhaving rearwardly extending portions, and pivotal connections betweenthe ends of said upwardly and rearwardly extending arms and saidrearwardly extending portions.

4. A hinge for a toilet seat comprising horizontal pivoting means, hingeposts having bearings therein for pivotally supporting said pivotingmeans positioned one at each end thereof, the base of each of said postsbeing positioned forwardly of said pivoting means and connected with itsbearing by an arm extending forwardly and downwardly from said bearingto said base, a hinge member for said seat extending from said pivotingmeans forwardly to the rear edge of said seat whereby the bases of saidhinge posts are positioned approximately beneath the portion of saidmember which is secured to the rear edge of said seat.

5. A hinge for a toilet seat and cover comprising a horizontal bearingpintle, hinge posts having bearing sockets therein in which arepositioned the ends of said pintle for pivotally supporting and limitingthe longitudinal movement of said pintle, the base of each of said postsbeing positioned forwardly of said pintle and connected with its socketby an arm extending forwardly and downwardly from said socket to saidbase, a U-shaped hinge member having a middle portion for securing tothe rear edge of said seat and having bearing apertures in its endportions through which said pintle extends, the over-all dimensionbetween said end portions being slightly less than the space betweensaid sockets whereby the axial movement of said U-shaped hinge member onthe pintle is limited, a second U-shaped hinge member having a middleportion for securing to the rear edge of said cover and having bearingapertures in its end portions through which said pintle extends, theover-all dimension between said end portions being slightly less thanthe space between the end portions of said first-named hinge memberwhereby the axial movement of said second-named U- shaped hinge memberon the pintle is limited, the bases of said hinge posts being positionedapproximately beneath the middle portions of said U- shaped hingemembers.

VERNON W. CAIVIPBELL.

